'Last resort'

"I think it's a concern that the public haven't been consulted and there has been this massive roll-out of Tasers. which could lead to a life-threatening incident or even a death."

Jenny Jones, Green Party London Assembly Member who is on the Assembly's Police and Crime Committee said: "My biggest fear is that once more officers have more Tasers it means that they will use [them] in a situation where it's a first resort at calming somebody down.

"They should be a last resort where there is a life-threatening situation against the officers or against a member of the public."

Officers undergo a three-day training on using Tasers and every year their skills and judgement are retested.

Met Police Commander Neil Basu said: "Of course there could be a risk, of course at some point in the future somebody could be seriously injured or somebody might die but we train our officers to use them in only the most appropriate circumstances and to use them with minimum of force necessary to stop violence and prevent injury."

Last month London Assembly's Police and Crime Committee said Scotland Yard must ensure Tasers were only used as a "last resort" after the force decided to triple the number of officers trained to use the weapon.

The Met said it "carefully considered issues of public and officer safety in its decision to make Tasers available to more officers".